Checking Each Other's Voice Mail Systems

Brief Description/Purpose

Ideal for a customer service meeting or seminar. This quick process is designed to help participants "hear" their voice mail systems from the viewpoint of someone else. You can also use this as a relevant icebreaker.

Type

Phone calls

Age Appropriate

Teens, Adults

Ideal Group Size

Any size

Time For Exercise

15-20 minutes

Topic/Subject

Customer service, customer experience

Detailed Instructions If Needed

Have each person write down their name, and their work telephone number, on a piece of paper. Have each person receive a randomly chosen slip of paper.

Tell people that they are going to make a phone call to their "buddy's" work station, and then provide feedback to the owner of that voice mail system. You might want to have the group generate some things to consider and write them on a sheet at the front of the class.

Once people have completed the calls, have them buddy up and share their perceptions of the voice mail experience, from the perspective of a customer.

Reconvene to take about what people discovered.

Additional Information if Available

Obviously you can come across some logistics problems, so feel free to change the exercise. Some people may not have cell phones, or their own voice mail, so you might want to have them listen in on another's call.